Contagion didn’t really need anything more to intrigue. Director Stephen Soderbergh is re-teaming with The Informant! scribe Scott Z. Burns, with a cast that includes Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, and Jude Law for his first 3D movie, about a viral outbreak. That’s already, like, seventy-eight degrees of awesome. But according to Variety, Warner Bros. has added another degree by signing Laurence Fishburne to co-star. [Update–The Playlist reported on Fisburne in Contation back in February and in March reported that he was playing “Dr. Ellis Cheever, the head of the Center for Disease Control.” This one is shaping up to be excellent when it premieres on October 21, 2011.

Hit the jump for casting details on Gillian Anderson in sequel Johnny English Reborn, and Hina Abdullah in 30 Minutes or Less.

I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t remember Johnny English, the 2003 spy spoof which starred Mr. Bean himself, Rowan Atkinson. It grossed a meager $28 million in the US, but tallied an impressive $132 million from international audiences. Hence, a sequel, which has made one step toward American relevance in casting Gillian Anderson [Deadline]. If nothing else, the actress can always bank on a devoted following thanks to her geek-friendly work in The X-Files. Given the film’s spy nature, they might even be able to get Anderson back to FBI headquarters.

While Johnny English may be unfamiliar, it’s not the most obscure name in this post. That title belongs to Hina Abdullah, though perhaps not forever, as Variety reports that she has joined the cast of 30 Minutes or Less. Directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), the comedy revolves around “revolves around a junior high history teacher and a pizza delivery man who are forced to rob a bank when one of them is strapped to a bomb vest.” Abudllah will star alongside Danny McBride, Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Pena, Aziz Ansari, and Fred Ward; The Playlist suggests she’ll fill the role of Ansari’s sister, a love interest for Eisenberg’s character.